Congrats Class of 2009!

View our photo gallery for pictures from the 2009 Farmer School of Business Divisional Recognition Ceremony.

The two principal speakers at the Farmer School’s divisional recognition ceremony May 10 urged graduates to consider how they have benefited from the efforts of others.

Procter & Gamble COO Bob McDonald, in his remarks titled “Make a Difference,” used the metaphor of the person who returns stranded starfish to the sea, realizing the importance of each one he can save.

“Graduates, please think about the people who contributed to you being here, now, and commit yourselves today to making a similar difference in the life of another,” he said.

Class speaker Jessica Reading talked about the importance of expressing gratitude and forming mutually supportive relationships with others.

“Looking for meaning in everything has made me intensely aware of how much I owe to others,” she said. “If there’s anything I’ve learned from my Miami experiences, it is that success is based on the relationships we create, and the mutual benefit those relationships provide. In the words of Sir Winston Churchill, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

Dean Roger L. Jenkins presided during the ceremony at Millett Hall that saw about 950 business graduates walk across the stage to receive the official good wishes of the Farmer School faculty and deans.

In bidding farewell to the graduates, Jenkins said, “Graduates, you benefit from Miami’s two-century tradition of scholarship and service, which we are celebrating during the university’s bicentennial this year. Because you stand on the shoulders of many, you are poised to enter a vastly expanding world where your contributions will be the richer for the experiences you have enjoyed here.”

Four faculty members were honored during the ceremony. Gillian Oakenfull, associate professor of marketing, received the Richard T. Farmer Teaching Excellence Award. Megan Gerhardt, assistant professor of management, received the Richard K. Smucker Teaching Excellence Award, and Thomas Murphy, visiting assistant professor of management, was given the Samuel S. Laws Teaching Excellence Award. Devon DelVecchio, assistant professor of marketing, was the recipient of the James Robeson Junior Faculty Research Excellence Award.

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